Serial Rapist Sought for Attacks in Affluent Area of Long Beach

A serial rapist is being sought in attacks on seven women living in and near the affluent Belmont Heights neighborhood of Long Beach, where a series of sexual assaults occurred earlier this year.

The most recent rape was reported Monday, but some of the attacks date back a year, Long Beach police said Wednesday.

“This guy was hitting so sporadically that nobody made a link until recently,” said Detective Craig Newland of the department’s sex crime detail.

The victims, ranging in age from 20 to 35, lived alone, usually on ground floors of multiunit apartment complexes, police said. The assailant entered their homes through open windows.

Police declined to release details of the assaults, saying only that they occurred in an area bounded by Anaheim Street, Ocean Boulevard, Cherry and Ximeno avenues. That includes the Belmont Heights, Carroll Park, Eastside and Bluff Park neighborhoods.

The rapist was described as black, between 20 and 30 years old, about 6 feet tall, weighing 170 to 190 pounds. Police said the rapist has short, neat black hair, is clean-shaven and has a lean, muscular build. Victims reported that he is articulate and well-groomed.

Police declined to say when they determined there was a second serial rapist in the area. Last Friday, when questioned about a recent rape in Belmont Heights, Sgt. C.S. Roberson, who heads the sex crimes detail, denied that there had been any other recent assaults in the neighborhood.